Hands-on with StarCraft 2: new technology, classic play

While attendees at the Penny Arcade Expo didn't see much new from StarCraft 2 …

While there were plenty of big-name games at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo, few titles had people willing to wait in line for hours upon hours to play. One of those games was Fallout 3, a title we played extensively at E3. The other was StarCraft 2, Blizzard's sequel to the unimaginably popular 1998 original. The show floor opened a few hours early for press on Friday afternoon, and there was only one destination in our minds.

We got to Blizzard's booth just as the first machines were set up for demos. Headphones were put on, hands grasped at mice, fingers twitched over the keyboard. For many of us, this was the main event; an encounter with a storied franchise with much baggage from our gaming past.

Playing StarCraft 2 feels like coming home to find the room you grew up in filled with updated toys. My time with the Terrans made me realize how much of the original game I had forgotten; while my mind used to be filled with build-orders and quick-keys, now I struggled to remember just how many SCVs I should build before moving up the tech-tree to soldiers, then on to vehicles.

A slow start was more than okay, however, because it gave me time to enjoy the work that has been done to the engine and art. It's amazing how much of the feel of StarCraft has been preserved, with much more detail added. The control is what you remember, as are the basics of each race, so expect to jump in with no trouble while mastering the subtleties of the new units. The interface likewise held few surprises in our limited time playing, apart from sleeker animations.

The Zerg, in particular, are nasty. Imagine, if you will, that you are in the woods after a summer rain. You flip over a large rock, and what you would see there—pulsing and writhing with disgusting life—that is a Zerg hive. "Creep" now moves and looks wet, and the new art makes the Zerg even more effective than before.

The new units witnessed in the demo fit that art style seamlessly, giving the impression that they were a logical evolution that occurred during the years between games. One new unit we witnessed was the Zerg queen. Now ground based, appropriately impressive looking, and centered around defensive powers (but still useful in a stand-up fight when leveled up), she'll introduce many new twists to the gameplay.

During one battle we sent one of the Terrans' new units, the Thor, up against a Queen, and the results were impressive. The Thor is a huge unit—imagine a siege tank with more assault capabilities that can also take down air units—and the battle showed off just how much more destruction and violence are visible with the game's facelift. I was also able to watch another player wipe out a Zerg hive... until burrowed Banelings showed up and completely dissolved the attacking units, grabbing quite the reaction from the watching crowd.

There isn't much news from the play we were given at PAX, although it's comforting to know that the StarCraft we love is in there, the play is just as smooth, and the new units seem to fit perfectly with the game world. The new title also seems to play well, with only a few hiccups in the framerate; everyone who played left hungry for more.

If you were looking for something new and shocking, I'm sorry to disappoint you. If you want your StarCraft updated, improved, and given a 21st century look and feel, you're going to be a very happy gamer... with a long wait in front of you.